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I would use a large gun that heats up quickly and gets the target area hot real fast. A pencil tip unit w/o enough oomph will mean you apply the tip too long and then the whole thing sinks the heat as you know you don't want.Also, for this duty I might skip the silver solder and use a rosen core solder since it will attach itself rather quickly. Tin the speaker tabs and tin the wire separately, then do the attachment soldering.
I fought these same issues myself before I discovered how much easier soldering is with a high quality solder. Since purchasing WBT silver solder, I worry much less about heat damage to components and parts. It's melts faster and flows better than any rosin core solder I've ever used.
Actually, WBT solder melts at 356 degrees F., which is lower than 63/37 eutectic solder, which melts at 364 F. Here's a link to an interesting tread on "which solder?" http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ymisc&1212857844&openfrom&1&4
At risk of stating the obvious, whatever solder you decide to use, first, make sure you have the best possible mechanical contact between the parts being connected....remenber, the purpose of the execrcise is to connect two parts, not simply to add solder (a third part) as a connecting bridge. Solder should be used to secure/stabilize the connection. To the extent that solder is utilized as a connecting bridge, the more evident are the the perceived differences in solder type. This is one of the reasons for the sonic differences between point-to-point soldering versus circuit board (through the whole or surfece mount) soldering--in the latter, obtaining a tight mechanical connection between the part and the board traces is simply not possible and solder has to act as a connecting bridge. When solder act as the connecting element (no actual contact between the parts intended to be connected), all the electrical properties of the metalurgic cocktail in the solder enter into play, plus the thickness of the joint itself (gauge)--which, accordingly, may introduce resistance, skin, diode, and capacitance effects that also depend on how fast the solder joint oxidizes and the chemical structure of the type of oxidization).Let's not forget that there must be a reason why crimp connections are favored, to the extent possible, in a large amount of critical electronic applications. Incidentally, "crimp" is meant to signify "high pressure/torque" (which includes screw and nut/bolt types), not spring loaded (plug-in) contacts.Last but not least, to some ears, the metalurgy of the two parts to be connected will also determine how the type of soldering interacts sonnically....for instance, silver to silver wire tends to harmonize with silver bearing solder, etc...but silver or silver plated wire to the tin plated steel terminal in a speaker armature...well???munosmario
For a secure connection, it never hurts to wrap or fold/lightly crimp the conductors/leads whenever contact terminals permit, and let the solder flow into the joint.I find a 40W "gun" and few seconds of heat application to be more than enough for speaker connections, and without getting into the debate over RHS, solder alloys, and constitution of vegan organic macrobiotic fluxes (I'm only half joking) , I do love the Cardas Quad Eutectic solder - both melts and hardens faster than the simpler 60/40 or 63/37 typesI think silver bearing solder has been popular for its (reputed?) sonic benefits long before the RHS thing and of course the designer solders sound so much better, but only if you apply them with your non dominant hand -seriously, don't we sometimes get carried away with this arcana?
